A plus-size woman who suffered from anorexia as a teenager has told how wearing a tutu helped her to love her body.

Marie Southard Ospina, 25, who grew up in New Jersey, said she used to be feel like her body occupied too much space when people avoided sitting next to her on public transport and she was bullied about her body.

But the Colombian American journalist and fat acceptance activist, who recently moved to Manchester, England, found that wearing bold clothes helped her feel confident and reclaim her 'right to be here'.

Eating disorder: Marie Southard Ospina, 25, pictured, who grew up in New Jersey and lives in Manchester, England, used to suffer from anorexia

Self-love: She said bold clothing such as tutus, fake furs and taffeta helped her to combat bullying and insecurity about her body

She suffered from anorexia from the ages of 13 to 16 causing her to faint regularly, become anemic and her digestive system to shut down.

Marie, who now weighs nearly 300lbs, had to go to hospital numerous times but she normally managed to convince doctors that she was suffering from stress or dehydration.

'Which honestly just proves that eating disorders are regularly overlooked if you don't fit the stereotypical image of "what a person with an ED [eating disorder] looks like",' she told Daily Mail Online.

In an article entitled 'I’m a fat girl in a tutu who loves to take up space' for The Establishment she told how following her recovery she learned to wear bold clothing such as tutus, taffeta, big faux furs and feathers and to apologize for it.

She said: 'Through large fashions that take up space...my fatness is on display more than usual. It demands attention and it offers no “sorry’s” for being seen.'

I chose to behave in the way I’d watched thin people behave. I chose to dress in the way I’d seen thin people dress

After buying her first tutu - which she said was 'pink' and 'loud' - she was stared at but she 'chose to perceive their gazes as confirmation of my fabulousness'.

The blogger said wearing the garment made her feel god because it felt like an act of self-love.

She wrote: 'I chose to behave in the way I’d watched thin people behave. I chose to dress in the way I’d seen thin people dress.

'I chose to love my body in the way I thought impossible and off limits to someone with back boobs larger than front ones.'

As a teenager, when Marie weighed 170lbs, she said she would not have believed that she would grow up to like her body if it weighed 300lbs.

She said the 'fat-shaming' and mockery of her peers, the portrayals of plus-size actors on TV and in film and the way people avoided touching her made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin.

As a result of their legacy, she now feels confident to wear neon crop tops without feeling worried or insecure and no longer feels like she needs to apologize for eating a doughnut.

She said her changed perception of her body has enabled her to live a full life.

'I don't feel that I was really living my life in the way I wanted to when I was consumed by body hang-ups and operating under the twisted belief that fitting into a box of aspirational beauty was the be all and end all to a fulfilled existence.

But she said more progress is needed to change the way people view the human body - including changes to legislation and more body diversity in the media.

'I want people to realize that weight loss is not a requirement for having a good, exciting, successful life. That beauty is subjective and to be found in all figures if you only change your mindset.

'I want all the expectations placed on fat people in order to be deemed worthy of acceptance to vanish, from proving our health and fitness to being expected to put on a full face of makeup as compensation for our bodies,' she said.